A quiet blog that discusses LGBT issues, fiction, publishing, pop culture, and romance novels that may or may not be erotic romance.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Gay Prides; M/M Rom Kerfuffle; Will Young Homphobia; Chase of a Lifetime by Ryan Field

Gay Prides

Even though June is winding down, gay pride parades are still in full swing. This AOL article mentions a sort of Gay Pride in Singapore, with a hugely colorful photo. This one in particular draws thousands of gay rights activists, which in turn has Christian activists asking for a ban on the event.

Previous Pink Dot rallies have been held without much opposition. But as they grew in numbers from less than 3,000 people when the first event was held in 2009 to more than 20,000 last year, so did their disapproval. Organizers said a record 26,000 people showed up Saturday.
26,000 is a lot of people and more support than ever before. This is interesting because the March for Marriage...an anti-gay march...on Washington recently garnered a handful of people compared to most gay pride events.

You can read more here. The article goes on to discuss more opposition. It's the same old tired argument that gays are trying to persuade people, when in reality all gays are trying to do is get equal rights. If we had them were wouldn't NEED gay pride events like this.

I also find it interesting that this article came from a mainstream source, not a gay news publication. I always support gay news first, however, I like seeing these things make mainstream publications.

M/M Rom Kerfuffle

I don't know how else to title this part of the post. I didn't want to use the title "Women Who Write M/M Romance" because I think that's insulting at this point...to women writers and the genre. So I'm keeping it simple. And there was a bit of a kerfuffle recently on a blog where a few fairly well known authors were interviewed about why they like to write M/M Romance. As far as I can tell, the post is only a fraction of the full interview, with short quotes.

Evidently, the short quotes posted from these M/M Romance authors didn't resonate well (for lack of a better way to phrase that) with some people and the comment thread expanded into a lengthy discussion that covered several interesting topics.

I interviewed three groups of m/m romance authors at the Romantic Times convention in May, asking the authors primarily the same questions. I let the discussions go in any direction the authors wanted with the idea that the mix of authors would put a different spin and focus on the topic.
One author said this:

Amy began by saying that “love is redemptive” and if any group needs the redemptive qualities of love, it’s gay men.
I don't know about anyone else, but I can't argue with that comment. I did, however, find some of the others questionable.

However, I tend to look at these things from a blogger's POV. And as a blogger who started out ten years ago interviewing gay bloggers for bestgayblogs, one of my goals was to make sure the interviews had a higher quality/integrity of sorts. I wasn't actually protecting the bloggers I was interviewing, but if I thought they said something that might be questionable I usually asked them to rethink their comments before I published the interview. If they saw nothing wrong with what they said, I published it. I never censored or edited quotes, but I did feel a certain responsibility to the people I was interviewing. Maybe I was too kind.

In any event, you can read more here. As I said, the comment thread is interesting because the discussion gets into a lot of topics I think most writers care about while writing fiction, especially these days. My only other comment is that sometimes I think we should focus more on entertaining and telling stories than analyzing everything social or political to the last detail. And, if all authors and all fiction went without a little controversy things would be about as interesting as an afternoon with a sociology professor. Some day I'll post my thoughts on THAT topic, and how I once had to suffer through the fresh hells of the worst sociology course in the history of higher education. And, the most mundane professor to ever open her big, boring sociological mouth (smile).

Will Young Homophobia

There aren't many details about this one, but singer UK Will Young was allegedly the victim of some kind of homophobia on the day London Gay Pride begins.

Would you believe on the day of Gay Pride I have been the victim of homophobia. I am SO mad. #pride2014,’ tweeted the singer.

His followers ran to support him with more tweets.

Frankly, we're all victims of homophobia in one way or another almost daily. Think Theresa Santai-Gaffney of the small town Pennsylvania Clerk fame who recently tried to appeal gay marriage by going over the Republican Governor's head. Oh yes, good old St. Theresa of the Santai-Gaffney has been promoting homophobia by denying gays equal rights with her son-in-law, Hank J. Clarke, all week. She recently censored her facebook page with a lengthy message about how much vitriol she's received. Well, forgive me for not feeling sorry for her. For every single action there is a reaction. And when you try to deprive people of their basic civil rights you deserve everything you get and more.

Second Chance: The Complete Series

About Me

Ryan
@ryanfield
Hybrid author of over 100 published modern romance novels and stories, including AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN, FANGSTERS, THE RAINBOW DETECTIVE AGENCY and best selling VIRGIN BILLIONAIRE SERIES. (The profile photo isn't very good, but it's really me and it's recent from 2017. I'm not supposed to be a photographer. )
RfieldJ@aol.com

Second Chance: His Only Choice

Second Chance: The Sweetest Apple

Cowboy Christmas Miracle Glendora Hill Series

The Littlest Christmas Tree

Book 2 Second Chance Series

Best Seller on Allromanceebooks.com

Bad Boy Billionaire: The Actor Learning to Love

I won't give out any spoilers, but this is the first time I've ever worked the attacks on the World Trade Center into a novel (you can see the twin towers in the background on the cover)...it's also the first time I've ever written a strong lesbian theme into the subplot.

The Women Who Love to Love Gay Romance

An Anthology with Ryan Field Press, release date August 30, 2013...links to follow soon.

Fangsters: Clan of the Jersey Boys

At a glance, Anton Pagano looks and sounds just like any other twenty-something. He lives in a mansion in northern New Jersey with his mom and dad, and he's never had to worry about anything other than his wardrobe, his latest new car, and the secret love affair he's been having for years. However, Anton has more than just the love affair to hide: he belongs to a Sicilian vampire mobster clan that migrated to New Jersey in the late 1800s.

The Wall Street Shark

Third installment of the Bad Boy Billionaire series.

Note to All Readers...

I welcome all comments and e-mails from readers of this blog or readers of my books.

All comments on this blog are treated with absolute discretion and all anonymous comments will remain private at all times. All reader e-mails sent to me in private will also be treated with discretion and will never, NEVER, be reprinted or reposted anywhere in public by me unless I get permission, in writing, from the reader. In other words, your privacy will always be respected.

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That Cowboy in the Window

Erotic Gay Romance with a twist.

Chase of a Dream

In this 59,000 word unabridged version of the sequel to "Chase of a Lifetime" that contains all of the original erotic scenes, Jim Darling finally finds the happiness he's been chasing for so long. He and Len Mayfield have settled into a quiet routine in their small newly renovated home in the Hollywood Hills, and they enjoy every minute they spend together raising Len's toddler grandson, Culum Mayfied.

An Officer and His Gentleman

Alyson Books

Ravenous Romance

all romance ebooks

Cleis Press

Pretty Man

Unlike most stories, where the rich and powerful husband dumps the hard working, devoted life partner for someone younger, this one takes a turn in the opposite direction when the rich husband is the one to get dumped. But with young Josh's help, Roland learns in less than a week's time that his future can still hold both earth-shattering sex and a love of real substance.

Whatever, Dude

When a young professional is mistaken for a hooker, the outcome is always shocking.

Disclaimer

I don't post photos or images here unless I'm certain they fall under the guidelines of fair use or public domain. But this blog has been around for a while and even though I've triple checked previous posts for photos and taken down anything questionable, I might have missed something and my intention was not to infringe on anyone's rights. I will continue to update, and all photos I post now will provide attribution of some kind. If not, they are believed to be in the public domain.